The 29th annual Autumn Jubilee will be held 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Oct. 4 -5 at Dan Nicholas Park on Bringle Ferry Road. There will be over 140 crafters with quality handmade wares.
The Heritage Village will include hands-on demonstrations such as soap making, pottery and basket weaving, blacksmithing and stained glass.
The T.M. Stanback Outdoor Theater will be the scene of continuous stage shows from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday with a variety of music. At 4 p.m. Saturday the headliner will be Extraordinaires and at 4 p.m. Sunday the headliner is Nantucket.
There will also be numerous food vendors, pumpkin painting. and a children’s area.
New this year, Radio Disney will be on hand Sunday from 2-4 p.m. with two hours of dancing, games, Radio Disney talent, prizes and give-aways.
Shuttles will be available. No pets, bikes, skates or skateboards allowed.
For more information, call Phyllis Cornelison or Andrea Baucom, 704-216-7816 or 1-866-767-2757.
RenFest opens
HUNTERSVILLE ó The Carolina Renaissance Festival opens this weekend for its 15th season, and will be open every Saturday and Sunday through Nov. 16. The festival runs from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m, rain or shine.
The 22-acre festival includes a cast of over 500 costumed characters as well as continuous music, dance and comedy shows on 10 stages, shops with arts and crafts, games, rides and food and drink.
You can throw tomatoes at the insulting fools locked in the stocks at Vegetable Justice. Cheer for your favorite mounted knights at three jousting tournaments each day. Or test your skill at games like the Dragon Climbing Tower, the Archery Range and the Maze.
Entertainers returning this year include the sharp wit of the Ded Bob Show, all three Tortuga Twins, Zilch the Torysteller, the dangerous balancing theatrics of Dextre Tripp, the dashing swordsman Don Juan and his zany servant Miguel, Birds of Prey demonstrations of majesty in flight. New entertainment this year includes Cast in Bronze n America’s rare traveling carillion which features 48 bronze bells.
The festival is located north of Charlotte between Concord and Huntersville on N.C. 73 at Poplar Tent Road (between I-77 and I-85).
Advanced discount tickets may be purchased at Harris Teeter stores, or festival goers can print their own discount tickets in advance online at RenFestInfo.com.
Advance discount tickets: $17 for adults, $6 for kids ages 5-12, children under 5 are free. Tickets purchased at the gate are $1 more. Senior discount tickets (60 and over) are $16 at the gate. Parking is free courtesy of Harris Teeter.
For more event information, call, toll free; 877-896-5544, or on the web at RenFestInfo.com.
Talent scout speaks
ROCKWELL ó New York talent scout Peter Sklar presents “So You Want To Be a Star,” a free lecture for young aspiring dancers, singers and actors, and their parents at 2 p.m. Oct. 5, at Dimensions Dance Arts, 107 W. Main St., Rockwell.
Sklar will explain why his views are in synch with the needs of top New York and Hollywood agents and casting directors. With four decades of experience, his list of protégés includes Sara Jessica Parker, Reese Witherspoon and Mischa Barton, to name a few.
“So You Want to be a Star” is open to teenagers, young adults, older children, and parents. There is no charge for admission, but reservations are strictly required. Nobody under age 6 will be admitted, and nobody under age 18 will be admitted without their own mother, father or legal guardian.
For reservations call 704-209-6333.
Halloween concert
WINSTON-SALEM ó Historic Bethabara Park invites the public to come enjoy its annual Dark in the Park Band Concert on Thursday, Oct. 9 from 5:30-8 p.m. Admission is free.
Dark in the Park is Bethabara’s special Halloween event, with hayrides among the lighted jack-o’-lanterns and children’s colonial games on the lawn. Bring a picnic or purchase hot dogs and a drink at the park. All ages will enjoy the 25-cent ice cream cones.
At 6:30 p.m. members of the Historic Bethabara Concert Band, disguised in their costumes, will entertain the audience with spooky music and old favorites. During the evening, a drawing will be held to give the jack-o’-lanterns to audience members.
For information call 336-924-8191 or visit www.bethabarapark.org.
Light in Piazza
WINSTON-SALEM ó Piedmont Opera opens their season with the Tony award-winning “The Light in the Piazza” Oct. 10, 12 and 14 at the Stevens Center of the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem.
Piedmont Opera is one of the first regional opera companies to secure a license for this show, which won six Tony Awards, including Best Score and Best Book. Artistic Director James Allbritten will conduct.
Although “The Light in the Piazza” was written for the Broadway stage, its score is both complex and lyrical enough to stand comparison with any modern opera. Allbritten described the show as one of the most intelligent pieces of lyric theatre that has been written so far this century.
“The Light in the Piazza” has a strong tie to Winston-Salem. The story, set in 1953, centers on Margaret Johnson and her daughter, Clara, the wife and daughter of a tobacco executive from Winston-Salem, who leave their native city for a tour of the Italian countryside.
The production is based on the novella with the same name, written by Elizabeth Spencer, 87, a current resident of Chapel Hill. “The Light in the Piazza,” the first work to bring her widespread acclaim, was published in The New Yorker and then was released as a novel in 1960.
Tickets for Piedmont Opera’s 2008-2009 season are on sale now at piedmontopera.org or 336-724-3202.
Pumpkin painting
Carillon Assisted Living of Salisbury will hold its second annual Great Pumpkin Painting Contest at 2 p.m. Wed., Oct. 22.
Pumpkins will be provided to the first 20 contestants (call to reserve your pumpkin), or you may bring your own. Painting supplies will also be provided. Participants may also drop off pumpkins that are decorated at home or school prior to or during the event.
Prizes will be awarded to the top three contestants in the following age categories: Elementary School, Middle School, High School, Adults and Seniors (over 60). Awards will be presented for Most Creative, Scariest, Funniest and Most Original Halloween-themed pumpkins.
Call Suzanne Rose or Julie Koontz at 704-633-4666.
IMAX’Dark Knight’
CHARLOTTE óDiscovery Place is extending “The Dark Knight: The IMAX Experience” schedule.
“The Dark Knight” will run every Saturday evening at 6 p.m. from Sept. 27 to Nov. 1 in The Charlotte Observer IMAX Dome Theatre.
Originally scheduled to play through Sept. 25, the film shattered records at Discovery Place, earning a place as the highest-grossing feature-film to show at the museum, and with a record of nearly 40 sell-outs, “The Dark Knight” also became the highest-attended feature-film at the museum with more than 30,000 visitors.
Tickets are $11 for ages 14-59, $9 for ages 2-13 and 60+ and are free for children younger than 2. Group and member discounts also are available.
Discovery Place is located at 301 N. Tryon St. For more information, call 704-372-6261 or visit www.discoveryplace.org.